HYDERABAD: Life came full circle for Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president G Vivekanand when a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday set aside the order of a single judge in the conflict of interest case involving the office-bearer.
The single judge had given relief to Vivekanand on March 15 by suspending the order — which had disqualified president and secretary T Shesh Narayan (owing to his name appearing in an Anti Corruption Bureau case) — of the state body’s ombudsman. The case pertains to Vivekanand holding the post of an advisor to the state government
It means that the former Member of Parliament and industrialist stands disqualified again. The court has asked the single judge to hear the case once more, taking into consideration all matters relating to the order of ombudsman Justice (retd) L Narasimha Reddy. When Express contacted Vivekanand, he said that he is yet to take a call. “At the moment I stand disqualified. I am yet to see the order copy. Once I take a look at it, I will consult experts and proceed further. Some are saying that the single judge had not given a detailed order. That might have created a problem.”
The ombudsman in his order had pointed out that a “clear conflict of interest exists vis-a-vis Vivekanand due to commercial contract between Visaka Industries, of which he is a director, and HCA. He also stands disqualified due to his appointment as an advisor to government...”It can be recalled that former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and former committee member C Babu Rao had filed an appeal after the suspension of the ombudsman’s order.
Regarding Narayan’s case, Rao said that the court had referred the matter back to the ombudsman on April 8, but Narayan circumvented everything by skipping hearings and waiting for Justice (retd) Reddy’s tenure to get over on May 31. “I will file an appeal against Shesh Narayan soon. There is no one to hear the case,” Rao told Express. “He purposely delayed the hearings two to three times until the ombudman’s tenure came to an end.”
The HCA is supposed to hold a special general meeting this month to fall in line with the Lodha Committee recommendations. With the latest turn of events, that seems unlikely to happen.
vishal@newindianexpress.com